Vipers Douse Storm In Game 1:

This is in todays Morning Star Newspaper:

Vipers douse Storm in Game 1

The Vernon Vipers tapped into a bit of that retro Civic Arena magic as they brushed back the Grande Prairie Storm 2-1 in Game 1 of the Doyle Cup regional championship Friday night. Connor Jones recorded the winner, his 10th of the playoffs, 2:54 into the third period. The Kootenay kid collected a loose puck at the right faceoff dot and charged in on Storm netminder Chad Carder, putting it far side past the 5-foot-6 keeper, off his own rebound. Jones’ twin brother, Kellen, and Sahir Gill provided the grunt work behind the net to set up the play. Civic’s postage-stamp ice surface made plays happen a lot quicker than they would have at Wesbild Centre, but the Vipers used an up-tempo style to outshoot the Storm 38-15 before an announced sellout crowd of 2,252 boisterous fans. If the Snakes took Game 2 Saturday night at Civic (visit www.vernonmorningstar.com for the game recap), the series will shift to Grande Prairie for the remainder of the series, starting with Game 3 Tuesday night. If the Storm won Saturday, Game 3 goes tonight at Civic, with the series shifting to Alberta Wednesday for Game 4. The Vipers had the Storm on their heels most of the night, and spent pretty much the first four minutes on the forecheck. Viper rookie Cole Ikkala set up Rob Short for the best early chance, a one-timer from the slot that whistled wide. Midway through the first, Kyle Bigos rang a powerplay point shot off the crossbar. Despite being outworked in the first frame – Vernon outshot Grande Prairie 15-7 – the Storm made the most of their short time in the Vipers’ zone. Morgan MacLean redirected Carter Rowney’s hard pass from the sidewall to beat netminder Andrew Hammond, who got caught going the other way. “That was far from our best game, and the inconsistency in our lineup has to change,” said a dejected MacLean. “That’s something we’ve done very well with lately, but we seemed to struggle tonight. “We can come up with all the excuses in the world, but... we need to pick up our consistency and work ethic back to the game. The smaller ice surface shouldn’t fluctuate how we play. “We can’t get a good judgement on the other team until we start playing our game.” Storm head coach Mike Vandekamp agrees, and will certainly demand more of his players as the series wears on. “We didn’t look as good as we’ve looked (earlier in the playoffs),” said Vandekamp, a former Vipers coach. “They played well and we played good in spurts, but we didn’t have the necessary intensity that we have had so far in the playoffs. “It’s not a very good rink to play in, with pucks bouncing and rolling like a tennis ball most of the game. But that’s no excuse; both teams have to play on the same sheet, so we have to go out there with more intensity and battle harder. “We’ve been off for a long time, and it looked exactly like that.” Both teams used the smaller ice surface to lay out some punishing checks – Chris Crowell and Mike Leidl for the Vipers, and Blake Clement for the Storm, were at the forefront of the physicality. Both netminders came up with some good saves, but also got a little help from the pipes. Bobby Tyson and Tanner Fritz rang iron for the Storm, while the Vipers’ Cory Kane, on a lazer beam wrister, also hit the post. Carder robbed both Short and Mike Collins on breakaways, while Hammond came up with a huge toe save on Fritz’ blast from the slot. Hammond’s best stop was a sensational second effort to deny Clement with his glove at the side of the net. Braden Pimm pulled the Vipers even at 6:44 of the second stanza when he completed a gorgeous tic-tac-toe with linemates Crowell and Collins. “Everything’s a lot quicker,” said Pimm, of playing in Civic. “It reminded me a lot of last year (against the Penticton Vees in Memorial Arena in the playoffs). Everyone’s on top up us, except this year the fans are on our side. It’s a lot of fun seeing the whole place packed up.” Pimm, a Fort St. John product, has a little more connection with the Storm than most of his teammates. His cousin, Bernie Pimm, scouts for Grande Prairie, and he also played against the Storm’s Dennis Rix and few other Northern Alberta boys in minor hockey. Vipers’ head coach Mark Ferner praised his players’ ability to adapt to the smaller ice surface by making smart plays. “We try to put pucks in good areas so we can get them back. That’s the important thing – not just dumping pucks for the sake of dumping them. Put them in areas where we can create a forecheck and move our feet. “That’s what happens in a small rink – time and space get taken away, so we have to move the puck quick. If there’s a play to be made then we have to make it. If there’s a lane to get pucks to the net, then we’ve got to get it to the net.” Crowell, who was originally recruited from the Revelstoke Grizzlies to Vernon as a 16-year-old AP when Vandekamp was coaching, expects the Storm to bounce back. “He’s a really good coach,” said the Vipers’ captain. “He has success wherever he goes, and he’ll have them ready to go for Game 2 for sure.” Ferner agreed, saying: “It was two pretty nervous teams at the start, not knowing each other’s tendencies. This game could have went either way quite easily. We probably haven’t seen their best team, but at the same time, we’re pretty fortunate to get the first win.”